Teaching is my favorite part of being a graduate student. I especially enjoy interacting with students who have low opinions of their mathematical abilities and helping them develop their mathematical understanding. One of the core philosophies behind my teaching is that there is never just one correct solution method. I try to promote an inquisitie nature in my students through open-ended questions and scenarios.
My full teaching philosophy can be found to the right.
Interesting Assignments
Minimalist Problems
Video Assignment
Precalculus
Future Teachers (Math 5001)
Future Teachers (Math 5001)
Students got in groups and wrote and solved a word problem relative to the concepts learned in class that week. The next class period I gave each group another group's word problem in the vaguest form possible. For instance "A man is looking at a balloon." The students then had to ask for information to help them solve the problem. If they didn't ask for info the original group used to solve the problem, they were denied.
The goal of this was to make students think about all the ways they could go about solving a problem, especially if it did not look like practice problems.
Students were tasked to make a YouTube video in groups of up to 3, 5-8 minutes in length, on a topic covered in class. As they were recording themselves, they were required to do something besides just lecturing at the camera.
The goal of this assignment was to familiarize future teachers with online technology as well as provide an opportunity for them to review their own teaching.
As part of my Arithmetic and Problem Solving for Elementary School Teachers class, students were required to make a Twitter account (if they did not already have one) and follow a class Twitter handle moderated by myself. Occassionally throughout the course students were required to give colloquial definitions and explanations of topics covered in class.
The goal of these activities was to use the character limit of Twitter to force students to reflect upon their wording and make the formal mathematical wording their own.
Courses Taught
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Arithmetic and Problem Solving for Elementary School Teachers
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Graduate Student Teaching Seminar
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Calculus I
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Precalculus